Christmas in Chaing Mai

So my school planned a field trip to Chaing Mai this weekend. They plan several trips throughout the year for the “smart classes”. The rest of the students had mid-terms on Thursday and Friday, but since we do not test our kids in English class, the foreign teachers were invited to go along. Christmas in Chaing Mai!

On Wednesday I set off on an overnight bus with 40 students and 6 other teachers. Getting there was kind of a nightmare.  We had to switch buses 4 different times and ended up sitting on the side of the highway with all of our luggage for almost 2 hours. After arriving about 5 hours later than planned we had a quick bite to eat followed by a full day of site-seeing.

On Thursday we started off at an umbrella factory where we got to see Thai people hand painting umbrellas and fans. This was followed by a trip to the hot springs. Thursday night we went to the famous night bazaar to do some shopping

On Friday we got up early and headed to Doi Suthep the highest mountain in Thailand. To get there we had to pile all the kids into song-taus to drive up the winding mountain roads. After walking around the top and viewing what a traditional hill-tribe village looks like, we went to the Doi Suthep temple. The temple was amazing and had a gorgeous view of the city of Chaing Mai. After descending the mountain we headed to a botanic garden. After a quick break for lunch we spent the afternoon at the  Chaing Mai zoo. We went to the aquarium and got to see the famous pandas. So cute! From the zoo we went to have dinner and watch a traditional Thai dance performance.

We headed back to U-Thong on Saturday. On the way back we stopped at a really old temple in Lampang which was really cool. The bus ride home was filled with lots of very loud techno music, just plain odd variety shows, and of course karaoke. I started to go a little crazy after about 2 hours of the "greatest love songs of 2010". 

Overall the trip was really fun. We did a lot of touristy stuff and I wish we could have spent more time in the actual city of Chaing Mai, however, I plan to go back there so I guess its good I got all the super touristy stuff out of the way. I was a little worried that I would have to be “chaperone” and have to watch the kids the whole time, however the Thai teachers were surprising lacks about supervision. The kids were very well behaved and pretty much free to do as they pleased. It was fun to hang out with the Thai teachers and my Chinese roommate and spend some time in the cooler weather up north!

  

So, my Christmas was spent in Chaing Mai watching a traditional Thai dance performance. I don’t think I could have gotten further from Christmas at home. It definitely felt weird to not be doing all of the "Christmasy" things I am used to doing every year. I guess I felt a bit removed from Christmas here considering it wasn't really acknowledged at our school or in our town. Other than a few occasional signs, a Christmas tree here, some lights there, it didn't really exist for me.  I still  missed my friends and family very much and wish I could have spent the day with you all!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Looking forward to New Years!